CenturyLink starts offering its Prism TV in parts of county

CenturyLink has launched its Prism TV service in parts of El Paso County and plans to expand it to much of the Colorado Springs area by mid-summer, becoming the area’s first major cable television competitor to Comcast — other than satellite services — since 1990.
The Louisiana-based...

CenturyLink has launched its Prism TV service in parts of El Paso County and plans to expand it to much of the Colorado Springs area by mid-summer, becoming the area’s first major cable television competitor to Comcast — other than satellite services — since 1990.

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The Louisiana-based telecommunications giant is offering television packages starting at $39.99 a month for 130 channels on a promotional rate that increases by $20 after the first six months and requires a one-year commitment. CenturyLink also is offering an expanded package with 62 additional channels for $55.99 for six months and a top package that includes 55 premium movie channels for $98.99 a month; both are promotional rates that also increase by $20 after six months and require a one-year commitment.

CenturyLink has signed up hundreds of customers for Prism TV since it began offering the service Feb. 19, said Mark Bittle, a company spokesman in the Springs. He declined to identify the neighborhoods where the service is now available or what percentage of Colorado Springs will be served by mid-summer, though CenturyLink’s franchise with the city requires it to make the service available to 25 percent of the city within three years and serve low-income areas along with wealthier neighborhoods that would be obvious targets for service.

“We are excited to be able to offer our Prism TV to a majority of Colorado Springs residents when it is fully deployed. Expansion of availability will continue throughout 2013 and beyond,” Bittle said Thursday. “Prism is a natural progression for CenturyLink to continue serving Colorado Springs with high-quality, affordable entertainment options.”

Packages that include telephone with unlimited long-distance calling, 12-megabit-per-second Internet access and the 130-channel television service start at $99.94 a month and are guaranteed for two years with the upgraded and premium television packages, Bittle said.

The television service will be sold through the company’s three local stores in the Falcon Landing shopping center, 7485 N. Academy Blvd.; First & Main Town Center, 3356 New Center Point, and in The Citadel mall, 750 Citadel Drive East. Potential customers also can call 633-5006.

Comcast is the dominant television provider in the Springs area, serving nearly 90,000 customers and also offering Internet access, telephone and home security services. The company sells television packages starting at $56 a month for 80 channels with a $26-a-month discount for the first year and requires a two-year commitment.

Prism TV offers features such as “Warp-Speed Channel Change” and “Multi-view,” which lets you keep an eye on four different shows in a specific genre on one screen. The Prism service is sent to customer homes through CenturyLink’s existing telecommunications lines and then converted to traditional coaxial cable inside the home to reach a set-top converter box that can be connected to television monitors by several different types of cables, Bittle said.

Colorado Springs becomes the 10th market in which CenturyLink is offering the Prism service, which is already available in locations in Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. For more information, go to www.centurylink.com/prismtv.
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Contact Wayne Heilman: 636-0234 Twitter @wayneheilman
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